Why was the Sudetenland important to Germany?

Because of its German majority, the Sudetenland later became a major source of contention between Germany and Czechoslovakia, and in 1938 participants at the Munich Conference, yielding to Adolf Hitler, transferred it to Germany. Sudeten Germans marching in Karlsbad, Germany, April 1937.

How many Sudeten Germans were killed?

Nonetheless, many liberal estimates, including those of the West German government, cite as many as 250,000 Sudeten Germans dead as a result of starvation, ethnic cleansing, exhaustion on forced marches, and disease (SBD 1958). Other pundits even place it as high as 270,000 (Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft).

What happened in the Sudetenland?

When Adolf Hitler came to power, he wanted to unite all Germans into one nation. In September 1938 he turned his attention to the three million Germans living in part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland. Sudeten Germans began protests and provoked violence from the Czech police.

How did Sudetenland cause ww2?

The Nazi annexation of the Sudetenland after the Munich conference (29th September 1938) was a cause of war, because it broke the Treaty of St. The Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, cause war because it defied the Munich agreement and ended Britain’s appeasement policy.

What happened to the Sudeten Germans after ww2?

Afterwards, the formerly unrecognized Sudetenland became an administrative division of Germany. When Czechoslovakia was reconstituted after the Second World War, the Sudeten Germans were expelled and the region today is inhabited almost exclusively by Czech speakers.

Where did the Sudeten Germans go?

Ethnic Germans migrated into the Kingdom of Bohemia, an electoral territory of the Holy Roman Empire, from the 11th century, mostly in the border regions of what was later called the “Sudetenland”, which was named after the Sudeten Mountains.

What was the result of the Sudetenland crisis?

The loss of the Sudetenland crippled Czechoslovakia as a fighting force, with most of their armaments, fortifications and raw materials signed off to Germany without them having any say in the matter. Unable to resist without French and British support, by the end of 1938 the whole of the country was in Nazi hands.

When did Germany invade the Sudetenland?

The Sudetenland was assigned to Germany between 1 October and 10 October 1938. The Czech part of Czechoslovakia was subsequently invaded by Germany in March 1939, with a portion being annexed and the remainder turned into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

What happened to Czechoslovakia after WWII?

It was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1938–45 and was under Soviet domination from 1948 to 1989. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia separated peacefully into two new countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

How do you pronounce Sudeten?

Also Su·de·tes [soo-dee-teez], Czech Su·de·ty [soo-de-ti].

How did Germany get Sudetenland?

To achieve a solution, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini suggested a conference of the major powers in Munich and on 29 September, Hitler, Daladier and Chamberlain met and agreed to Mussolini’s proposal (actually prepared by Hermann Göring) and signed the Munich Agreement, accepting the immediate occupation of the …

In the last days of October 1918 the Sudeten German parliamentary representatives had already constituted the provinces of “Sudetenland” and “German Bohemia” and had annexed these directly to Austria.

Who were the Sudeten Germans and what did they do?

The former flag of the Sudeten Germans. In 1938, Konrad Henlein and Adolf Hitler forced the surrender of the region to Germany before illegally occupying the whole nation of Czechoslovakia. Included German minourity groups in this region: Sudeten Germans, Carpathian Germans, Zipser Germans

Why did Germany want to annex the Sudetenland?

The annexation of the Sudetenland by Germany was, to a large degree, prepared by the Sudeten Germans, who—after accepting with great reluctance the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which had placed them under Czechoslovak rule in 1919—responded with increasing approval to the German nationalist, anti-Czech,…

What is the difference between Moravia and Sudeten Germany?

Moravia contained patches of “locked” German territory to the north and south. More characteristic were the German language islands: towns inhabited by German minorities and surrounded by Czechs. Sudeten Germans were mostly Roman Catholics, a legacy of centuries of Austrian Habsburg rule.